People who say Germans don’t do small talk are lying – there are a couple of topics (very few to be fair to stereotype), that will probably rouse your average German to passionate speech. One of these, and perhaps the most important, is the bemoaning of the Deutsche Bahn. Germans love to have a good whinge about the trains – for such an efficient, well-run country, the trains can be surprisingly expensive, run-down, delayed, and all round inefficient. However despite this, using the train network is usually the easiest, economical and quickest way of zipping round the country. To assist you on your journeying, I’ve compiled a list of handy hints and some ways to get around some of the most common train issues I’ve faced throughout multiple trips throughout the country.